NCRG Awards Presented at Conference Luncheon
Robert Custer (1927-1990), a pioneer in the field of problem gambling, and Nancy Petry, an up-and-coming researcher in the gambling field, were honored with the first NCRG Scientific Achievement Awards in December at the "Rethinking Addiction" conference. The NCRG established the awards program in 2002 to recognize outstanding contributions to the study of gambling and gambling-related problems.
The 2002 recipients were selected by an independent, blue-ribbon committee chaired by Joseph T. Coyle, M.D., Eben S. Draper Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology Peter Nathan, a member of the committee, presented the awards to Lillian Custer, accepting on behalf of her late husband, and Nancy Petry, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. According to Nathan, the committee decided that it was appropriate in the inaugural year of the awards program to celebrate the past and future of the field by recognizing the founder of the field of problem gambling and a young investigator who is one of the field's brightest stars.
Robert Custer, a board-certified psychiatrist, served as chief of treatment services of the Mental Health and Behavioral Science Service of the U.S. Veterans Administration. In 1972, he established the first inpatient treatment center for disordered gambling at the VA Hospital in Brecksville, Ohio. Custer's tireless efforts to gain recognition of disordered gambling as a mental health disorder reached fruition in 1980 when the American Psychiatric Association classified pathological gambling as a psychiatric disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). This official diagnosis has served as an essential element of treatment and research programs. The enduring legacy of Robert Custer is the growth of resources for problem gamblers as well as the developing body of research on gambling disorders over the past 30 years.
Nancy Petry has emerged as one of the leading young investigators in the field of research on gambling disorders. Although she earned her Ph.D. only eight years ago, she has already made an impact through her efforts to find effective treatment for pathological gambling. Petry has received more than $2 million from the federal government and the private sector in support of research on gambling disorders. Her recent grant to study treatment for pathological gambling was the first of its kind to be awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health. In addition, she has received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to examine strategies to reduce gambling and HIV risk behaviors in substance abusers.
NCRG SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS SPONSORS
Argosy Gaming Company
Boyd Gaming Corporation
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.
Mandalay Resort Group
MGM MIRAGETM
Station Casinos, Inc.
NCRG AWARDS SELECTION COMMITTEE
Joseph T. Coyle, M.D., chair
Eben S. Draper Professor of Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School
Linda B. Cottler, Ph.D.
Professor of Epidemiology in Psychiatry
Washington University School
of Medicine
Richard I. Evans, Ph.D.
Distinguished University Professor of Psychology
University of Houston
David C. Lewis, M.D.
Professor of Medicine and Community Health
Donald G. Millar Distinguished Professor of Alcohol and
Addiction Studies
Brown University
Peter E. Nathan, Ph.D.
University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology
University of Iowa
Christine H. Thurmond
Administrative Director
Division on Addictions
Harvard Medical School
